The present invention relates to a device for adjusting a component of a seat or lounger, having a rotary drive and a gearbox able to be driven by the rotary drive which has an output for adjusting the component of the seat or lounger.
Seats and loungers are often fitted with various adjustment facilities to increase the comfort in which people can sit or lie on them. By using the adjustment facilities it is possible to adjust a seat or lounger to the varying needs of a person sitting or lying on it. These needs may depend on for example the physical characteristics of the person or the activity the person is performing. One possible adjustment of this kind is for example setting the angle between the seat proper of a seat and its backrest. In general terms, provision may be made for a seat or lounger to be divided into various segments and for it to be possible for the angle between two adjacent segments to be altered.
Adjustments of this kind may affect the external shape of a seat or longer. Provision may also be made for adjustments which affect the way in which it acts with a person sitting or lying on it. These include supports incorporated in the seat or lounger which support the person at certain points and which can be adjusted in respect of, for example, their position and shape.
To allow an adjustment to be made to a seat or lounger, suitable adjusting devices are needed which can be operated manually or by a motor.
In this way, there is known from EP-0 696 251 B1 a device for adjusting the height and/or curvature of a lumbar support having a gearbox driven by a drive, in which the drive drives a worm which engages in a worm wheel, which in turns drives a pinion which meshes with a gear driving a reel. Fastened to the reel is the inner traction cable of a Bowden cable arrangement which is used to adjust the lumbar support. The gear driving the reel has a land which co-operates with stops in the housing of the gearbox to limit the adjusting travel of the adjusting device. The particular disadvantage that this adjusting device has is that the parts which are needed in the gearbox take up a considerable amount of room and this has an adverse effect as far as fitting the gearbox into a seat or lounger is concerned. It has a particularly adverse effect as far as fitting an adjusting device of this kind into a seat for a motor vehicle is concerned, in which small dimensions are a requirement because of other components which are present and the small amount of space available.